Plovdiv-Headquaters-Interim-Russian-Government-1878

Plovdiv-Headquaters-Interim-Russian-Government-1878-plaque

The Provisional Russian Administration in Bulgaria (, ) was an interim government established for

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n territories occupied by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. This administration was established in the beginning of the war in April 1877. The

Treaty of Berlin (1878) The Treaty of Berlin (formally the Treaty between Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire for the Settlement of Affairs in the East) was signed on 13 July 1878. In the aftermath of the R ...

provided for the termination of the Temporary Russian Governance activity since the establishment of the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria () was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed ...

and

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Treaty of Berlin and ''de facto'' ...

, in connection with which it was abolished in May 1879. The main objectives of the Temporary Russian administration was to establish peaceful life and preparation for a revival of the Bulgarian state. The Western parts of nowadays Bulgaria which had been invaded by the

Serbian Army The Serbian Army () is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. Its organization, composition, weapons and equipment are adapted to the assigned missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces, primarily for operatio ...

were under Provisional Serbian Administration from 19 December 1877 to 5 June 1879.

The organization and activities

The Temporary Russian Governance initially was headed by Russian emperor's commissioner prince Vladimir Cherkassky, as chief of the "First office of civil governance of liberated Trans-Danubian lands." After his death in March 1878 this post had been held by prince Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov. From 20 May to 10 October 1878, the Commissioner's residence located in Plovdiv, and then was moved to Sofia. The guidance of the Civil Administration presided by the chancellery of Russian emperor's commissioner jointly with established in 1878 the Board of government over areas. Besides Russian officers and officials, many Bulgarians were included there, among of which were

Dragan Tsankov Dragan Kiriakov Tsankov () (9 November 1828 – 24 March 1911) was a Bulgarian politician and the first Liberal Party Prime Minister of the country. He was born in Svishtov. Tsankov was initially a civil servant in the administration of the ...

, Petko Karavelov,

Stefan Stambolov Stefan Nikolov Stambolov (; 31 January 1854 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS – 19 July 1895 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS) was a Bulgarian politician, journalist, revoluti ...

, Dimitar Grekov,

Dimitar Petkov Dimitar Nikolov Petkov () (2 November 1858, Tulcea – 11 March 1907, Sofia) was a leading member of the Bulgarian People's Liberal Party and the country's Prime Minister from 5 November 1906 until he was assassinated in Sofia the following ye ...

, Todor Ikonomov,

Konstantin Stoilov Konstantin Stoilov () (23 September 1853 O.S. – 23 March 1901 O.S.) was a leading Bulgarian politician and twice Prime Minister. Simeon Radev described him as the most European-like of all Bulgarian politicians. The Russian administration tried to prepare as many staff as possible to create a state mechanism for future Bulgarian states. So, initially seven provinces were headed by Russians and only one - by Bulgarian, but in six provinces the vice-governors were Bulgarians. At the local level Russians created a government system: in the districts (

uezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the ...

s) there were formed elective administrative councils and judicial committees, in the villages - councils of elders. There were drafted the Constitution project. The administration made preparations for the elections to the Constituent Assembly.Болгария от освобождения до середины XX столетия
/ref> In the spring and summer of 1878 Bulgarian militia (

opalchentsi Opalchentsi () were Bulgarian voluntary army units, who took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The people in these units were called ''opalchenets-pobornik'' (опълченец-поборник) roughly meaning "folk-" or "regiment- ...

) was transformed into regular military units and formed the Bulgarian Territorial Troops. Many young Bulgarians were sent to the Russian military schools, and the most capable ones - also in military academies. After a short time in Bulgaria, the Russians established a local military school. To speed up the formation and training of a new army, the administration had decided to detach Russian officers and instructors from the lower ranks from the Danubian army to the Bulgarian units. Also, the Russian army encouraged the military training of the rural population in Russian units and Bulgarian voluntary detachments (which were called

druzhina A druzhina is the Slavonic word for a retinue in service of a chieftain, also called a ''knyaz'' (prince). Kievan Rus' ''Druzhina'' was flexible both as a term and as an institution. At its core, it referred to the prince's permanent perso ...

s) by all ranks. Such measures formed a mobilization reserve for the Bulgarian army. The Russian army had also delivered a significant amount of equipment and supplies to the Bulgarians. Russia actively contributed to the establishment of the Navy in Bulgaria.Создание болгарской национальной армии
/ref> To train officers, capable young Bulgarians were detached both in Russian military schools and in the newly created Military school in Sofia.

The occupation debt

Costs incurred by the Russian exchequer for maintenance of the Temporary Russian Governance had to be reimbursed by the future Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia. The sum accrued this way was called the "occupation debt". Bulgarians paid it irregularly, and its final settlement has taken almost half a century. The Principality of Bulgaria serviced the debt from 1883 until 1885, when relations between Bulgaria and Russia were severed after

Bulgarian unification The Unification of Bulgaria () was the act of unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and the province of Eastern Rumelia in the autumn of 1885. It was co-ordinated by the Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee (BSCRC). Both had ...

with

, which had not been approved by Russia, and the following

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War (, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', , ''Srpsko-bugarski rat''), a war between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria, erupted on and lasted until . Despite Bulgaria's statu ...

, prior to which Russia had withdrawn its military officers, leaving all their equipment, weapons as well as 15,000 horses to the Bulgarians, who had until that moment trained and commanded all larger units of Bulgaria's young army. In 1890, it had sent a service payment, but regular payments were resumed only in 1896. Finally the, nearly all (around 26 million out of 28 million) that was due to be paid for the"occupation debt" was paid off by the Principality of Bulgaria in 1902 at the expense of a large foreign loan issued by a bank Paribas. The occupation debt of Eastern Rumelia passed to the Principality of Bulgaria after the unification of Bulgaria in 1885. Its repayment was postponed many times until 1912, when Bulgaria and Russia agreed on a plan to repay the debt. The plan was never realized because after the beginning of the First World War the two countries were adversaries. After the war, the debt was written off by agreement between the Cabinet of

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski (; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was a Bulgarian politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a memb ...

and the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

government of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Sources

Bibliography

Овсяный, Николай РомановичОвсяный, Н. Русское управление в Болгарии в 1877-78-79 гг. Т. I. Заведывавший гражданскими делами при Главнокомандовавшем Действующей армии д.с.с. князь В. А. Черкасский. СПб, 1906

Овсяный, Н. Русское управление в Болгарии в 1877-78-79 гг. Т. II. Российский Императорский Комиссар в Болгарии, генерал-адъютант князь А. М. Дондуков - Корсаков. СПб, 1906

Овсяный, Н. Русское управление в Болгарии в 1877-78-79 гг. Т. II. Восточная Румелия и Адрианопольский санджак. СПб, 1907

External links

* ttp://www.srpska.ru/article.php?nid=1306 Создание болгарской национальной армии*

The organization and activities

The occupation debt

Sources

Bibliography

External links

See also